Now before I go any further, I would like to say that I of course know that my parents love me and would do anything for me in the blink of an eye.
Almost every parent will say "I love all my children equally" when asked if they have a favorite child. Some people believe it, some don't. I grew up with an older and younger brother, making me the middle child. This caused me to get a very serious disease called "Middle child syndrome." I thought my parents hated me. I actually made a list on my iPod that was titled, "Reasons why my mom hates me" and every time she did something that was unfair towards me, I would write it down on the list. Yes, middle child syndrome isn't an actual medical disease but it is something that some middle children go through. Here are some of the reasons why being the middle child sucks when you're growing up.
1. The oldest is the mature one, the youngest is the cute baby child. What is the middle child?
In my family, once my parents had my youngest brother; everything changed. Now my parents had three boys to give attention to. My brother was the oldest so now people are going to be all over him for now having two younger brothers. Then they go to the new born because he is the new baby. Where does that leave the middle child? The oldest is the mature one that is supposed to protect us, the youngest is the young one that doesn't know any better and the middle child is the other older brother.
2. When the middle child has a big accomplishment, it's usually not as special.
When the oldest child has a big day such as graduating high school or college, the parents are overcome with emotions. Their first child has made it all the way to adulthood. Now, when it's the middle child's turn to do something like that, it's just not as special since the parents have already been through it once. You would think that the parents are even less likely to care when its the youngest child's turn since they've now been through it twice and they didn't give a damn after the oldest child, but that's not the case. They may actually care even more since now this is the last time they're going to watch one of their children graduate and they don't know what to do with themselves emotionally.
3. You're the most likely to be forgotten.
As you grow up in life, there will be family members that you won't see for years. The rock bottom of being a middle child in my opinion, is being mistaken for your younger brother. That is exactly what happened to me. "Oh, Tyler you've gotten so big!" Tyler is my younger brother, not me. Of course I couldn't get too mad in public but in my mind I was thinking, "do I look like a 14 year old kid to you?" It happens with birthdays as well. Aunts and Uncles forget how old you are or the actual date of your birthday. When it comes to the other siblings, they have it down pat.
Middle child syndrome is a mythical disease of course, and us middle children do know that our parents love us with all their hearts. We just think they love their other children a little bit more.
